Merry Christmas!

Santa House

We finally went to see Santa last night. We thought Monday night won't be that bad. Wrong! The line was so long and we waited more than an hour to see him. But it was well worth it. J and M each wrote a letter with printed pictures of toy they want for Christmas. Baby K was just in awe of the sight of all kind of lights and toys inside the Santa House. Best of all, we did the trip with cousins and had pizzas afterward. The only problem (forget the 20 degree weather and the hour-long waiting line and the 23 lb. baby on my hip wanting to move) that my sister-in-law's camera didn't have the memory stick and I ran out of battery for our camera! Luckily, thank goodness to technology and those smart phones, her husband's phone had a memory stick which can hold 2 pictures and my hubby took videos with his cell phone. Lesson learned? Check batteries (including back-up ones) and memory stick for your camera before you leave for a special trip, like, say, Santa House. For now, I just hope kids' little hearts will do better job than memory sticks.

Jotting down little things

I need to write things down before I forget...the things that I don't want to forget. It is a journal after all....(I may add some picture later)

Today was my first parent-teacher conference at J's kindergarten. J is just thriving in school, loving being there, and just enjoying everything about it. The teacher told us that J tells his teacher everyday, "Hi, Mrs. M. I like School." "Hi, Mrs. M. I like you. I'm glad you are my teacher." His teacher reminded us how fortunate he is to have both parents who love him and teach him. Yes, we are blessed to be together.
And my husband said to me, "You can do a lot of things, but I don't think you can be a kindergarten teacher." Yap, he is right. I am thankful for public school education!

Baby K turned a year-old. Always smiling, happy child. He had his first black eye yesterday by falling from a high chair at a friend's house. He was poked 6 times at the doctor's office the hour before (oh, poor thing). But my happy baby came back after the first taste of lollipop.

While my husband was driving with just M the other day, they saw a flock of turkeys. M said, "Mmmm, turkeys! I ate turkey at Thanksgiving. They are yummy. Mmmm, I want to eat turkey!" Yap. My kind of girl. She'll never be a vegetarian. Though I don't remember seeing her eating any turkey at Thanksgiving....

Today I made some reindeer (with a Moose-shaped cookie cutter) cookies with leftover gingerbread cookie dough with kids. We sang "Rudolph the red-nose reindeer" as we decorated.

Because of parent-teacher conference, J was home today. It was fun to have him home. He made funny faces and made K giggle so much that we all started giggling. K's smile is contagious, and his giggle is really contagious. I should video-tape next time.

J and I had our own cuddle time as I read books to him tonight. He told me many times that he loves me, and he loves being with me.
Yes, love is spoken here.

Birthday gifts for my niece

I know I have not posted Halloween pictures yet, and it is on my to-do list. But for now, I'm posting the pictures of "the products of the day". Yes, it was another one of those housekeeping strike days. And yes, I am making more flowers...

A pair of $1.00 gloves turned out pretty with beads embellishment.

I hope she'll like them.

I didn't know gingerbread man had bones...

Halloween-theme snack for J's class: "Ginger-Skeletons" (that's what J calls). The idea came from Family Fun magazine, and the recipe was from Allrecipes.com. This was my first time trying this recipe, but it was really good. I baked for 8 minutes just like the reviews, and they turned soft and delicious. It's definitely a keeper recipe.
The first thing J told me after he got off the bus today? "Mom! Everyone LOVED the ginger-skeletons!" Yay!

Obsession with flowers

It started as just to make gifts for little girls. But now, I like flowers on me. Me, the same girl as her wardrobe used to be consisted of pretty much black, white, gray, and khaki - the super basic, kind of boring, but the one you can wear for years (oh, maybe that's my problem...). I don't have the guts to wear these flowers on my hair, but I like them as brooches. Since I made the shirt with flower, I became okay with flowers. So here are the showcase of the week.

2 1/2 inch silky ribbon + candle light + glue gun = scarlet beauty

Inspiration from Etsy + pretty fabric from my friend = Christmas gift for a niece

I think this will look fabulous on my new $4 red sweater from Goodwill

Pretty vintage looking lace from a friend's "ribbons and stuff" box for a shabby look?

My mom would be so happy to see her daughter started wearing pink and flower again, because when I was 10-year-old I decided that I didn't like red or pink, or flower or lace or that line of stuff on me.
Well, maybe I'm maturing a bit.

Birthday Bash

We celebrated J and M's birthdays this weekend. It was a grand 5-day event!

We went to a zoo on Friday,
(kids being Rino - isn't that cute?)

and went to a children's museum on Saturday.

Then we had a family birthday party.
Here is J's cake - he requested a skate board.

Of course, M's request was a princess Barbie cake.
What 4-year-old girl doesn't want a princess cake?

And opening gifts, lots of gifts.

I think I took a break on Monday....I don't remember.

Then, of course, the cupcakes for J to share with his 20 some classmates on his birthday.

My husband picked up J from school at lunch time and they went for a special Daddy-and-son lunch. We had J's favorite dinner, home-made hamburger, in picnic style in our front yard enjoying cool fall air and colored leaves flowing by. And to complete, we received a box full of goodies and birthday gifts from Japan. What an event!

Bento faces

A friend of mine inspired me to make my son's lunch more fun - making Bento (lunch box) faces. I remember my mom making Bento faces for me. It was fun to open my Bento box to find faces. I can feel her love. Now as I do it every morning, I really appreciate all the time and effort she put into my Bento for many, I mean many, years. Thanks, Mom! And thanks to my friend for inspiration. I'm sure it's more fun for J to see these faces than just cookie cutter cut-out sandwiches (though I change cutters everyday from a car-shape to an airplane-shape to a train-shape).

So, here is some faces for this week.

"Hmm?"
(bread crust and craisins glued with beanut butter)

"Missing Teeth" - just like J, missing teeth, and has one wiggly tooth
(Ham & cheese sandwich, top piece of bread with a hole cut out to make mouth.
Decorated with cut out cheese - kitchen scissors does the wonder)

My absolute favorite:
"Blowing Raspberries"
(the orange color of Muester cheese edge inspired tongue,
sliced into the bread for the 3D action!)

I can only hope J enjoys his lunch.

$5 shirt makeover

It was almost like gamble to buy a T-shirt (granted it was only $5 on sale) only to cut. And because I was not so sure how it would turn out, I didn't even take a "before" picture. But it turned out super cute! And I'm showing off. This is what I made today, instead of cleaning a house full of mess.
J was very disappointed when he came home hungrily just to find his mom sewing instead of cooking. "I thought you were cooking something good...."
Well, sorry son. We are having pizza tonight.

Thanks to many bloggers out there nice enough to share their talents and post tutorials. I liked the style of this t-shirt with the idea of using one T-shirt.

I was very very cranky this morning. Frustrated, frizzled, stressed out...it was not my day. But after I finished this beauty, I felt so much better. I felt beautiful in it. Maybe I discovered joy in a whole new world of sewing. And it's pretty therapeutic.

"Hate it" to "Like it" to "Love it"

One morning, a few days ago, I had a moment thinking, "I LOVE being a stay-at-home mom!"
When I became one almost 4 years ago, actually, I struggled. I hated it. I was all of sudden a mother of 2 kids (I worked full-time till 2nd child was 3 months old). I had no idea what to do, what I was doing, or what I was supposed to do. I felt lost.
A friend of mine shared with me one day, "You know, when I first became a stay-at-home mom I hated it. The first 18 months was horrible. Then I started liking it, and now I love it. I hope you'll get to love it in a few years."
About a year ago or so, I told her that I started liking it. She was happy to hear my progress.
Then a few days ago, I thought, "Hey, I love being a mom, a stay-at-home mom!"
I love being able to take J to kindergarten every morning without rush, with a baby on my hip and 2 kids in tow (Yes, it is crazy in the morning). I love being able to make 22 pieces of rice crispy treats for J's kindergarten class as a snack. And I absolutely love seeing my son thriving in his new world - kindergarten. And, honestly, I enjoy a little quiet time I get during the day.
Yay for me - to be able to say, finally, "I love it."

The sense of accomplishment this week

I know I'm kind of slow in following trends, and I usually don't care much about trends. But I decided to make some girls floral headbands. I wanted to see how I can create something cute really cheap. Flowers, spool of ribbons, sets of simple black headbands are all under $1.00 each - either from a dollar store or clearance rack. It's another easy, fun, quick project. Some went to my friends' girls, some are going to an auction at J's school, and some are going to be birthday gifts for my friends' little girls (yes, some of you may see these soon...).

And this, a flag with an eagle on, was more like a homework kind of project, well, originally for my hubby. Starting today he is off to Wood Badge, a leadership training for boyscout leaders. Isn't it a very sharp looking eagle?? I love it.

He and several other people are in a troop named Eagle, and they needed to make a flag. Well, he needed to make a flag as one of his homework. He came home with this image below.I said, "Ummmm, you want me to help you make a flag with this?" Nope, I like the other one better. Courtesy of Google image - the image was traced.

J's first day of school

My first child started kindergarten today.
(J waiting in line somewhat nervously)

I expected J to be up early and ready to go, but it was not the case. After 3 nights of sleep over at cousins over Labor Day weekend, I guess he was tired and comfortably snoozing in his bed. So here I went to wake him up.
Me: "Hey, J."
I gently touch his head.
J: "What?"
His eyes still closed.
Me: "Do you want to go to school?"
He gestured with his index finger pointing up. He rolled and sat up. Within 10 seconds, he was awake and smiling.
J: "Are we going to school tomorrow?"
Me: "No. You are going to school today."
J: "Today? Really?"
Big grin.
Me: "Yes. Today. Come on out!"
He hopped out of bed.
Wow. I wish I could be that quick.

He was able to eat only half bowl of cereal this morning. He must have been a bit nervous.
I was able to force myself to eat only a banana. Yes, I was pretty nervous.

My husband took a morning off to be with the younger two, while I took J to school.
Today is a special day. He carried his new backpack. I took pictures. He fiddled with the backpack straps. I took more pictures. We lined up as bell rang. J holding onto my hand, not too tight, but just to make sure I'm still there. After his teacher took attendance, we proceeded to the class - his own locker, his name tag with assigned seat, and so many new kids. I gave him a kiss, and he gave me a hug. We said our good-byes. I took more pictures.

I went home. And I cried. I couldn't help worrying about him.
I was very sure that he would do fine. But I was not so sure if I would do fine.

A few hour later, J came home in a bus, all smiling, holding his water bottle. Wait. He forgot his backpack already on the first day?? There was no one sitting next to him in the bus, so his backpack was "sitting" next to him, J told me. From there, he couldn't stop talking about what he did at school and how much he loved it. He inhaled 2 sandwiches and a glass of milk, while he talked. I found myself smiling while listening to him. Love it.

Then he asked me, "Can I go to school again tomorrow?"

Before J was born, I promised myself that I would raise my child in Japanese, and, if all possible, that I would never place him in a daycare. And I did. Here he is all ready to start his new life. I have no regret at this point of my life. That's a good thing.

Handful of summer goodness

Beautiful and absolutely delicious tomatoes

and the biggest raspberries I have ever seen

All from my garden! Ymm!!

Call-in sick today

I'm not sure if it's from some kind of bug or just exhaustion from good-old playing hard without enough sleep. My 2 older kids had mild fever today. My body doesn't produce much of fever, but I have had this headache and absolutely no energy to do anything. So, I decided to call-in sick today as...me. Kids are fed and changed. I think that's about all I have done today. I guess it's a benefit of being stay-at-home mom, because I don't have any certain number of sick-days to begin with. Although I have a son who constantly calling me "Mama!" for help and asked me to finish his $1.00 wooden model helicopter (which I did finish), I don't have to be yelled at by my boss (my former boss, that is). Although I have a lot of housework needed to be done, I don't have to feel unnecessarily guilty about leaving that job for my nagging co-workers (again, my former co-workers), because those housework will still be there without much complain, or maybe my sweet dear husband will help do graciously.
So, today, kids and I just snuggled up in a couch and watched movies (kids) or read a book (me), and got some very needed rest all together.

Definition of happiness

I started reading a book Bluebird a few days ago. In there, it read "Canadian positive psychologist Paul T.P. Wong defines happiness as 'the capacity to rejoice in the midst of suffering.' I like that definition. Happiness isn't the absence of suffering, then. Happiness doesn't have to be about denial."

I like that. Maybe I should post more often here...

Best baby-sitter in town!

I had my friend's girl as a baby-sitter this afternoon while I was at work. I have never hired a baby-sitter with a theme! A theme!! The theme was "fishing". She brought: a movie "Ponyo" as an entertainment; stuff to make jellyfish (paper plates and tissue papers - genius!) for the craft time; and "fishing theme snack" - long pretzel rods with spoonful of peanut butter to "fish" the fish-shaped cheese crackers! When I showed up at the door, they were playing "Go Fishin' " game. Wow!! I was just amazed. Kids LOVED it. They had such a fun time! Thanks, MJ!

Healing power of camping

Last weekend, we went camping to heal my exhausted soul. We went to my favorite beach and just floated in the warm water. The sun, the wave, the sand....it was so relaxing. Something about me born and raised in a fisherman town, whenever I'm down I crave the sound of waves. I can just sit at beach doing absolutely nothing, nothing but watching and listening to the waves, for a very long time. At night, after kids went to bed, my husband and I just sat by camp fire and talked. Under clear starry sky in the woods, with back ground sound of campfire popping, we admired the beauty of the fire. With slight breeze, there was no mosquitoes to be annoying us. Just perfect. Then I realized that I was surrounded by all the 4 elements, Earth, Water, Air, and Fire. Hmmm.....interesting.
Of course, kids love it, including baby K. There is nothing better than roasted marshmallow over campfire, early morning fishing trip with Daddy, and playing at the beach without caring about what time it is. No TV. No computer. No phone. Just us. We needed it. And, most of all, I needed it.

Backyard Jungle

My backyard vegetable garden looked like this a few weeks ago....

Now, it looks like this....

Tomato Jungle!! And I'm loving it!
My first trial of cantaloupe plants have a lot of flowers.

Beautiful Peas!

First harvest

Just cute, aren't they? Oh, they were so yummy, too!

Hello, beautiful.

The look of it, the smell of it, and the taste of it, you are just beautiful. Sorry, your twin sister disappeared pretty quickly at dinner table, and later as a bed time snack. I'm sure you miss her, but don't worry, you'll soon join her, in our stomachs. It's part of the deal you signed up; we have to eat you. So, here is the proof you were here. You look beautiful! Oh, I won't forget your grand entrance to this world from the oven. It was just gorgeous. The butter on the top helped you really glow, literally.
So, PBJ, or turkey club? Or maybe just good-ol'-bread-and-butter? A glass of chocolate milk might make a good compliment. Yeah, that sounds good. Let's do that.

Playing hard

We had such fun days with cousins last week. One day, we went to LEGO exhibit (pics below). The next day, we went to a beach (no pics).

We saw amazing stuff

and cool stuff made with LEGO blocks

and we played with regular sized LEGO blocks

and gigantic LEGO blocks

and had a lots and lots of fun time with cousins. After many many hours of playing, J was so sad that he played with his cousins only till 5 pm, not 9 pm (he is learning how to read clock). Um, did I mention that we'd been playing since 11 am?

But yesterday, after he played with his friends all day till almost 9 pm (one family in the afternoon, and the other in the evening as we were invited to a dinner), he said, "It was such a fun day. I had a lot of fun with my friends. Thank you, Mama." I'm glad he was finally satisfied. Whew! But does he really wants to play till 9 pm? Maybe that's why he has to come out of bed at 10 pm saying "I'm hungry." Playing hard, eating good, and life is good for a 5-year-old. Happy Summer time!

A birthday gift to my little friend

A set of origami crane earrings. It was fun to see her exciting face when she opened the box. Happy birthday to my little friend, C.

Twenty-five pound of goodness

Strawberries, that is. We went strawberry picking yesterday evening to our local strawberry patch. U-pick for $1.40/lb. Did we carry away? Maybe. Bless his heart, my husband took stems off of all the strawberries. Yes, 25 lb. of them. Here is just a handful of the 25 lb. Picture taken by my 3-year-old. This was her breakfast today.

Here is a picture of freshly harvested strawberries from our garden this morning! Mmm!

Second generation bed-time story

Bidily Bump is the name of the main character in this second generation bed-time story that originally my father-in-law started, and now my husband is telling our kids almost every night. The story is about this cat, named Bidily Bump (correct spelling unknown), going out and about. Kids get to come up with where he goes and what happens. In tonight's story, Bidily Bump went to a park. Then Bidily Bump would encounter an alligator (no name) at some point. Story goes on. At the very end, Bidily Bump would always say, "I may not be very smart, but there is one thing I know..." then tell kids it's just a made-up story, so no matter what happens to Bidily Bump he is okay and kids don't have to worry about him all night.
My husband has fun memories with the story told by his Dad. I hope our kids will cherish through their lives.

Mini Me

I guess, M has always been a "Mommy's girl", but she has been wanting to be doing whatever I do lately - doing dishes, laundry, sweeping, and even nursing. I sit on my glider to nurse baby K; M sits on her little rocking chair across the room to "nurse" her baby (tuck her baby doll under her shirt). I change side, so does she. I rock the baby and pat on the back, so does she. I put a burp clothes under his chin and pat his back to have him burp, well, so does she. After it's all done, she'd check her diaper to make sure it's clean (I sure hope it is!), put her baby in her little bed, tuck her in under a blanket, and tell her "Nite, nite". Then she tells me "Shhhh. Baby is sleep." It's pretty sweet.

My "I want to make something" bug

Last night, a piled of rinsed dishes were looking at me saying, "Are you going to load us up in the dishwasher to make us clean?" I said, "No." Instead, I played with my beads to take care of my "I want to make something" bug. Not the best pics, as usual because of my skill or camera or lighting or whatever reasons, but I'm very satisfied by the look of these ladies. And because I took care of my itching bug, I was able to sleep well, till my baby woke up with a diaper full of poop in 4 am.

Happy Saturday

It was a good day for everyone (or is that mostly me?). My husband took older 2 kids out, and I was able to take care of things I have been wanting to.
Here is why it was a Happy Saturday for all of us:
Me - went to a nursery to buy plants for garden, took a nap, and cleaned and organized piles of stuff, and feel so much better!
Hubby - Went fishing with kids and had a good time
J - Went fishing with Daddy
M - Went fishing with J and Daddy with brand-new Barbie fishing pole!
K - Well, he is just a happy chillin' kind baby

When Mommy is happy, everyone is happy. I was singing along with The Beatles while doing dishes! Thanks to my sweetest dear husband for taking care of all of us. He is the BEST!

A conversation of 5-year-olds

Here is a conversation between my son and his, also a 5-year-old, cousin A.

J: I'm going to Kindergarten next year.
A: Me, too!
J: But I'm going to Kindergarten that people are speaking Japanese. (He meant his Japanese friends who speak Japanese are going to the same school.)
A: Oh.
*Silence*
A: I'm going to just regular Kindergarten. You know, people speak regular.
J: Regular?
A: Yeah. Like, you know? We say "Hi" and stuff.
J: Oh.

I didn't know two 5-year-olds could carry such a conversation - actually listen to the other person and think through responses. It was so cute to see two of them being excited to go kindergarten next year and talking about it.

Sweaty Saturday

It has become our family tradition to work on our vegetable garden every Memorial Day weekend. This year, I'm trying something new. Instead of not-so-organized farmer style in a very small yard, I will try French Intensive Garden style. It's more known as a square-foot-garden. But I'm not a kind of girl who follows direction precisely (ahem, maybe that's my problem...), so, of course I'm making some adjustment. The bottom line is that I want to maximize yields from our small some 12'x14' section of our backyard. I simply want to do the best I could.
Growing up, I watched both of my grandmothers growing vegetable gardens, serious ones. One was on terrace, and other in her small backyard. Both of them had many many kinds of vegetables and flowers. And my mom, who has big fat Green Thumbs (well, not literally, but she has dozens of orchid which I hear is very difficult to take care of), has her own vegetable garden in her small backyard as well. One year, her tomato plants were taller than my mom!
So, I want to have a good variety of vegetables growing in my garden, but yet looks organized and tidy and easy on eyes - something like this.

Image borrowed from http://localfoodsandusky.wordpress.com/

We worked almost all day today digging, tilling, measuring, and cutting, but something about having 3 small children, we ran out of time. So no picture yet. But one raised bed looks pretty good as it is now. I can't wait!

Friday night

It's 9:30 pm on Friday night. Everyone is sleep. EVERYONE. Kids are all in bed. My husband passed out on the couch after a long week of work. And the dog is snoring to make harmony with his master. Hmmm. I thought my hubby wanted to watch a movie or something...but I hate to wake him up as he is catching up on his very much needed sleep. I think I'm going to curl up in bed and read my book under soft breeze. That sounds like a plan.

How can I get mad at this??

I heard kitchen covers and fridge door being slammed shut and kids screaming, while I was putting baby K for a nap. I came down stairs wondering what kind of mess they are creating. And this is what I discovered - J and M sharing a cup of apple juice together, happily with giggles.

Silence, Calmness, and Serenity

The only noise I can hear right now is...I was going to write as "our dog sleeping", but actually, it is "me typing". I don't know when was the last time I had this quiet moment in my home in the middle of the day. Baby is sleep. Dog is sleep. My husband is out with the older kids. Wow. Quiet. Love it. I love my family so much, but it is nice to have alone time sometimes. Well, kind of, since I'm not totally alone here. I am able to clear my head (hopefully it will help me to think more clearly), take deep breath without a little face attached over my head, and actually listen to my music instead of a theme song for Curious George.

Happy Birthday to Me

I feel so loved. So many birthday wishes from my family and friends. Kids kept saying "Happy Birthday, Mama!" all day long. I might have aged 100 years today! And I got a lot of birthday gifts which have been given to me throughout this weekend:
- A truck full of horse manure for my garden
- Cleaning garage and yard by my husband (It's beautiful!!!)
- "Garden" theme cake by my hubby and J, which I wish I had taken some pictures
- A shopping spree to JoAnn (by my husband)
- Yummy baked ziti dinner from my friend (Thank you, Kristin!)
- The best Coconut Cream Pie in town (My husband and kids went out to buy "a secret" dessert for Mommy) for dessert
- A frozen lasagna dinner for later use by another friend
- A gift card to JoAnn from my sister-in-law who knows me very well
- birthday cards and many many birthday wishes via phone, e-mail, and facebook.
I am so loved. My heart is full.
And here a birthday gift for me from myself - a coordinated denim skirts for M and me.
Happy Birthday to Me.

There is "Before" and there is "After"

Ever since I learned that one of my sisters-in-law sews her skirts, I've been wanting to make one. And one of my friends sews hers, too. She even alters to fit better for her figure! Plus, I thought "It would be fun to make matching skirts with M (my 3-year-old daughter)". So, I have been cooking this idea for a while. I even borrowed skirt patterns from my friend. She told me to use elastic waist to make it easy. True. But I wanted to make something nice enough that I can enjoy wearing, if I invest in some time cutting and tracing the pattern, and cut and sew the fabric....not to mention that I haven't mastered sewing a zipper with sewing machine!
As part of "my decluttering my life project", I made my husband clear his part of closet a few weeks ago. My husband, being strong and sturdy (I got this from a children's book author's biography, and I love it), and maybe, just maybe, getting a little stronger and sturdier than when we got married, he got rid of several pairs of nice dress pants. Good quality ones. Good fabric, no wear or tear, too good to just donate. Then, came an idea. Use those pants as material! Being called "resourceful" "frugal" and "thrifty" (oh, no, I'm not cheap.) many times in my life, I decided to live up to the title.

"Before"

And, "After" (not the best pic)

I thought it turned out really cute. I was very very happy about the result. Well, there is one spot. Oops. This is what happens when you don't exactly cut along the pattern, measure as directed, and sew without following instruction. Lesson learned. I'll try to follow the steps a little bit closer next time. But, hey, once you put a cute shirt on the top, nobody notice that, right? I'm happy, so that's all that matters here. Next plan: matching/coordinated skirts with M. We'll see....

Story of my life in the bottom of my feet

Purposefully, I have no picture for this post....
After dinner, I realized that my socks, especially the one on the right, were sticky. Flipped my feet to see what's on: play dough, angel pasta piece from dinner, dog hair, a piece of sticker, cookie crumbs, sands, dirt, etc. I'm pretty sure I put white socks on, and vacuumed this morning. Hmmm.

A day off, well, sort of.

Maybe because of the weather, or maybe something else. Whatever it was, something was causing me being cranky. And I just needed a day off. I needed "me time", a time to take care of myself, by doing things I wanted to do without being interrupted or yelled at "Ma-Ma-!" every 30 seconds. So I took a day off. A day off from work, both inside and outside of home (Wednesday is my only work day). A friend of mine watched the older 2 kids for me, and off I went with baby. Dropping a box full of clothes to donate at Goodwill, dropping another box full of clothes for my friend's little girl, returning things at stores, dropping a form to be signed at Pediatrician's office, etc. Some may say, "That doesn't sound like a day off." But, to me, it was. Having "me time" helped me to clear my head. Clearing out my clutter out of my house cleared my mind. Cheating on dinner by buying a rotisserie chicken and making mashed potatoes out of potato pearls lifted pressure off my shoulder. Kids went to bed before 8 pm and I was able to enjoy a nice quiet time alone.
Oh, my baby is calling me. I think I can take a nice cuddle with my sweet chubby baby.

Stress relief of the day

Care package from Japan

I had one of those days - feeling tired, stressed, mopey, blue - not a good day. But I got another box of care package from my parents today, an "express" version of care package which means the box contained some good Japanese breads. The box was filled with goodies, treats for kids, clothes for kids, some easy-to-make Japanese meal stuff, of course, the good Japanese breads, and most of all, a lot of love from my parents. It's funny I felt so much better after I opened the box and ate a few of those yummy sweet bread sticks made with molasses. Thanks, Mom!

Big brother and Little sister

This picture has nothing to do with post, but captures their loving relationship as big brother and little sister.

This evening, I had a work meeting. I made Tacos for dinner and left home as soon as my husband walked in. And this is a story he told me when I came home.
As usual, I asked "How were kids? Were they good for you? Did they eat dinner?" kind of questions. He told me that baby K was mostly happy, but he became inconsolable (is baby K teething? We are not sure, but he has been cranky during the day this past few days). So, he put the baby down in his crib before they started eating dinner. As he came down stairs, he realized that kids were very quiet. He peeked around the corner, he found J saying a prayer. J carried all the food, dishes and everything out from kitchen, made tacos for him and his sister, and blessed the food, while Mommy was out and Daddy was taking care of baby. What a big brother!!! I was very proud of him. It kind of reminded me of my childhood with my big brothers.